Knitting machine



Nov. 22, 1927.

V. LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1924 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov.22, 1927.

KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1924 `8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 22, 1927,.

V. LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE ed July 5, 1924 q Q. /m/en/an l//hcenlombara/ y M H CAM A15/y v. LOMBARDI uw 4 bm i a/,W A.. w \\\\\\s a{2f/, s, hw @n www www@ bww. IIA/w mju/ f/ V @um Q f Y Nov. 22, 1921. n1,650,083

V. LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE l Filed July 5, 1924 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 H97@f /65 F/g. 7o.

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Nov. 22, 1927. 1,650,083

v. LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1924 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 57.9F/g 00009000OOOOOOOOQQ/24 OOOOO O 00000 OOOO ooooooooooooooooo'ooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooog 4 0 oo: o\

O O O O O 0 O 0 Q O g Q Q Q O O O O O O O O O O Nov., 22, 1927. V1,650,083

- v. LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1924 l 8 Sheets-Sheet '7illumlllllmllll llll Hlllllllllll /m/enfor.' I V/hcen/ lombardi Nov. 22,1927.

V. LOMBARDIA KNITTING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 8\ NNN PatentedY Novi 22,i927. i n A `1,650,083 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.V

i VINCENT LOMBARDI, OF BROOKLYN,A NEW YORK.

xNrr'rINe MACHINE. Application led J'u1y` 5`, 1924. Serial No. 724,510.'

Ihis invention relates to knitting ina- 7 c illustrate how the cylinderand dial needlesv chiiies, and more particularly it relates to cooperateto form the new stitch of. this inmaciiiiies for knitting multi-colorfabrics.. vention; Figure 8 illustrates schematically An'obJect of thisinvention is to provide a the character of one type of fabric that mary760 machine capable of automatically knitting be knitted by the machineof Figure 1 infabrics of a predetermined pattern which cluding portionsinvolving the novel stitchmay comprise yarns of different colors as-'and other portions beingof a predetermined sembled iii the fabric topresent any arrangepattern; Figure 9 illustrates a pattern paper mentdesired. which may be employed in controlling` the 65 j() AnotherVobject is to control independently dial needles; Figure 10 representsin perand automatically the movement of each dial spective the novelstitch of this invention; needle of a circular knitting machine. Figure11 indicates in perspective the pattern Another object of the inventionis to proportion of the fabric; Figure 12 represents vide means,preferably automatic, for changin plan view a modiiied type of knitting15 ing the character of the stitch at such premachine having certainfeatures notpresentdetermined times as maybe desired. in the machine ofFigure 1; Figure 13 illuslAnother object is to provide means for tratesthe control means for the dial needles transferring the stitch from acylinder needle of the machine of Figure 12; Figure 14a-is to a dialneedle of a circular knitting maan enlarged sectional view of a dialneedle 75 chine. v v v control arrangement; and Figures 14 and V Anotherobject is to provide a machine lfc ShOW the apparatus of Figure 14 inva- Capable 0f knitting a, neng` type .of stitch 110115 pOSltlOIlS 0fi). knitting CyCle. v from yarns of dierent colors having many Theknitting machine of Figure 1 is of the advantages over stitches ofprevious types. ]acquard type, employing both cylinder Another object is'to provide aunitary needles and dial needles,that is, both horicontrolmeans for all. the dial needles in a zontal and vertical rows` ofneedles. The circular type of machine. machine specifically shown isadapted to Still other Objects will be apparent. from function withthree types or colors of yarn, the detailed description hereinaftergiven. and for convenience 'yarn These objects in the preferred form ofvto be red yarn, yarn2 will be white yarn, and this invention areembodied in a double yarn 3 will be blue yarn. The' machine is knittingmachine of the circular type emadapted` for multi-colorl knitting, andas ploying both cylinder and dial needles. many different yarns as maybe desired may Special cams and other mechanisms are probe used. -videdto produce the various results desired Power for driving l no themachine is obtained and reference'is made to thedetailed descripby meansof .ag shaft 30 ending in a cog tion for their nature. wheel 31 engagingteeth along the lower side The invention mays be `fully vunderstood of alarge rotatable annular ring TeethI by reference to the followingdetailed de.- on the outer edge of. ring 32 mesh with a cog *l5/.scription taken in connection with the acwheel 33 which by a. verticalshaft is connectcompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 ed with cog wheel34.- which engages vwith represents in plan view one form of thisinteeth around the, periphery of. another rotatvention; Figure 2represents a sectional view able annular ring 35. A stationary annularof the knitting machine of Figure 1; Figring 36 is located betweenmembers 32and 100 45- ure 3 is a detail showing of a control mem- 35.The vertical or cylinder needles, such ber of the machine; Figure 4 is aschematic. as needle 37, operate in ygrooves on the inner lay-out of thecams for controlling thecylsidev ofv a stationary cylinder 38, whilethe' inder needles of the machine; Figure 5 is necessary` cams foroperating the cylinder a' schematic showing of the variouscams forneedles are mounted on the outer surface. of controlling the dialneedles of the machine; a rotatable cylindrical ring 39. The ring Figure6 is an enlarged sectional `view o 39 is supported by upright membersfastened the control arrangement lfor the dial needles; to the spider40, which has arms extending Figures 6b, 6, and 6d represent theapparatus and fastened lto the upper horizontal rotatof Figure 6a indifferent positions ofthe knitable ring 35. The spider member issuitably ting cycle; Figure 6" is a modification ofthe' rotatablymounted. about a central vertica apparatus of Figure 6a; Figures 7 7",and shaft 42. The horizontal or dial needles 43 1 will be assumed 85'Cil rest in groovesl or slots in the stationary dial 36 40 or by therotating annular ring.

- circumference of the machine.

.Means are provided for controlling independently, the operation of eachdial needle, whereby patterns or special stitches 'may be knitted by themachine automatically according to a predetermined plan. Each dialneedle (see Fig. 6a) is provided wlth a control member 44 whichdetermines whether or not the associated needle will be in a position toform loops when the yarn carrier goes by the needle. Each control member44 comprises a portion 45 located in a slot or groove in the stationarydial 36 but free to move back and forth in the slot and also free tohave a certain angular movement in a vertical plane. This angula-rly.movable portion 45 is pivoted about a push rod 46 and is free to slidealong a` cer tain length of the push rod from shoulder 47 to shoulder48. A coiled spring 49 located in a slot in member 45 and extending between the end of push rod 46 and a pin on member 45 tends to force theend of member 45 against shoulder 47 of push rod 46 for reasonsdescribed later. The opposite end of push rod 46 passes freely throughan aperture in stationary dial 36 out beyond its outer circumference.

On lline with the outer ends of the push rods 46 is a rotatingcylindrical drum 50 having parallel rows of apertures, each row havingan aperture for a push rod immediately opposite thereto. Passing aroundthe rotating drum 50 is a punched pattern paper strip 51 havingapertures registering with the apertures in the drum 50. The operationof a dial needle therefore depends upon whether or not, when the controlmember 44 is pushed outward by suitable cams, the outer endof the pushrod 46 encounters an aperture in the paper pattern.

In the machine shown in Figure 1, each drum and paper pattern takes careof one seventh of the push rods forthe dial needles since seven drumsare distributed around the These drums are supported from the main bodyof the machine in any suitable manner. Each drum is independentlystepped around to line up the ends of the push rodswith the next row ofapertures in thedrum by m'eals about to be described and the descriptionthat follows is applicable to any of the drums shown in Figure 1.

Each drum has a toothed wheelsuch as wheel 55 engaging a worm wheel 56mounted on a shaft 57, the other end of which has a three-toothed cogwheel 58, see Figure 2. This shaft 57 is rotatably supported by lthesupport 60, suitably-fastened to the outer part of the stationary dial36. The movable dial 35 has mounted thereon at two positions 180 degreesapart three spaced projecting arms 61, 62, and63 (seeFigure '1), whichare'adapted to engage the toothed wheel 58 so that every time thesethree projections pass a toothed wheel'58, the shaft 57 is rotatedthrough 360 degrees. One complete rotation of shaft 57 is designed toturn the cylindrical drum 50 a distance sufficient to have the push rodsline up with the next row of apertures in the cylinder 50. Eachcylindrical drum 50 will be moved two steps for every completerevolution of the rotatable dial 35. It will be noted that one set ofprojections 61 to 63 pass each cog Wheel 58 after the carrier fortheblue yarn 3 has passed and before the carrier for the red yarn 1 passes.The other set of project-ions 61 to 63 pass the cog wheel 58 after thered arn carrier has passed. These two sets o projections set the paperpattern for the red and blue yarn carriers but not for the White -yarn 2since the white yarn is not knitted by the dialneedles. It follows `fromthis that there should be a set of projections 61 to 63 for yeach yarncarrier carrying yarn to be knitted by the dial needles.

As st-ated previously, the machine of Figure 1- is adapted to kniteither a special pattern, as determined by the paper pattern strip 51,orJ lse to knit a novel stitch, as will hereinafter e described. Thechange of the knitting from the regular stitch to the novel stitch orvice versa is accomplished. by a special mechanism, as shown in Figures1 and 2. Mounted. on the sh aft 30 is aworm wheel 65 engaging a toothedwheel 66 fixed to a shaft on which is mounted an eccentric which drives`the pawl 67 in a well known manner.

This pawl 67 serves to step around a ratchet wheel 68 mounted on thesame shaft as a sprocket wheel 69 engaging the links of a chain 70.Certain links ofthe chain 70 bear cams.71 which areJ capable ofystriking and lifting the,pivoted arm 72 to raise shaft 73 and causemember 74 to come in the path of an upward projecting portion of therotating latch member 76 to cause lit to hook with the latch 75, thelong arm of member 76 being moved so as to rptate plate 77 in acounter-clockwise direction. This plate 77 has around its outer edge camsurfaces r which cause the pivoted arms 78. 87 and 88 to raise or lowerthe cylinder needle cams 85,l 83 and 80. These cams are mounted on thevarious cams for the cylinder needles. The rotation of latclrmembers 76in a clockwise direction causes plate 77 to rotate in acounter-clockwise direction and causes cam surfaces 94, 95 and 96 tooperate the pivoted arms 88, 87 and 78 to lower cams 80 and 83 to theirlowermost positions and to raise cam 85 to its uppermost position. Thismovement of the camschanges the character ofthe stitch, as willhereinafter be described, lVhen the control member 74 is in itslowermost position, shown in dotted-.lines in Fig. 2, the rotating dialvcarrying the latch 75 causes the downward projecting portion 111 oflatchl 75 to strike' control member 74,

thereby releasing 'latch 76 and allowing it to be restored by the actionof spring 97. This will rotate plate 77 in a clockwise irection andcause cams 8 0, 83 and 85 to be restored to their biased positions, soas to change the character of the stitch again. The post 98 insures thatthe latch member 76 will-always be restored to the same posi*- tionsince the spring 97Awill always pull the member 76 until it strikes thepost 98. The change from one kind of knitting to the other thereforedepends on the presence or absence of cams in the links of chain 70. Forportions of the chain 7 O having no cams, the knitting will be of onetype, while the portion with cams will mean knitting of another type.

Three yarn carriers for yarns 1, 2 and 3 for the machine` are shown inFigures l and 4. For purposes of convenience, it will be assumed 'thatthese'yans are red,'white and blue, respectively, and they are solabeled in the` drawing. Projections, such as 113 and 114, on the threeyarn carriers serve to secure a positive opening of the needle latchesin the well known manner.

The Vfunctions of the various cams for the cylinder 4needles will now beexplained, reference being made to Figures 1 andv The heavy dotted lineof Fig. 4 represents the position taken by the needle butts as thevarious cams pass with these cams in 'their full line positions ofFigure 4, that is, their biased positions, as mentioned above'. The camspass from right to left, as shown in Figurev 4. Cam 79. serves to raisethe needles, a projection 113 on the red yarn Cani 8()v carrier servingto pen the latches. has no effect on t e needles in its upper positionso the needles after catching the yarn 1 remain up. The yarn 1 fallsbelow the open latches at this time and is caught at predeterminedpoints by the dial needles, as will be explainedlater. 'Cam `81 alsoperformsl no function at this time, but after the 'needles have caughtthe white yarn 2, cam

82 contacts with the needle butts and lowers the cylinder needles,yforming loops of the white yarn. Cam 83 then raisesthe needles, thehooked-white yarn cause loops of yarn 2 causing the latchesA to open andthe white yarn falls'below the latch. red yarns to enable the dialneedles to be inserted therebetween, as will bev explained later. Cam-84 now needles and the white yarn slips over the needles. Cam 85 beingin its lower position, does not cause the cylinder needles to catch theblue yarn 3. Cam 79 then raises the needles as before and the process isrepeated. Thisin combination with the. action of the dial needles,produces a new stitch, which will be described later.

lVhen cams 80, 83 and 85 are in -their dotted line posit-ions of Figure4, the cylinder needles form ordinary loops of all three yarns. `Cam 79raises and cam 80 lowers the needles to form loops of the red yarn 1.Cams 81 and 82 cause white yarn loops to be formed. Cams 83 and 84vperform no function at this time. Cams 85, and 86 3 to be formed.

The dial needles which alternate in position with the cylinder needlesare operated as follows, it being understood that every ydial needle isbetween two adjacentcylinder This serves to separate the white andylowers the cylindereov needles and every cylinder needle 'is betweentwodial needles as is customary'in the art. Referring more particularlyto Figure 5, it will be assumed for the purpose ofFigure 5 that the camsare mov/ing fromleft to right, although, of course, the cylinderneedlecams and the dial needle cams rotate clockwise direction, as shown inFigure 1. A convenient place ton start in the/cycle is with cam 12,which serves to ush outwardly all of the needle control mem ers 45. Thisoutward movement of members 45'will 'cause the rods 46 to engage thepaper pattern 51, certain of the rods passing through the attern anddrum where there are apertures, while thether rods will press againstthe paper, the youtward movement of members 45 being taken up by thecompression of the springs 49. As soon as cam 12 has passed thecompressed springs on did not pass .through apertures will'cause thesepreselected members 45 to be moved inwardlyagain to their position asbefore vthe passing of cam 12, while the members 45 with uncompressedsprings will remain in their outward position.- The passing of cam 12therefore separates the control members 45 into two groups. Thosemembers 45 which were restored by the release of the springs will beraised by the passing of cam 13 so that .when cam 5 later passes, theyare moved inwardly and the inner ends come in contact with the ends ofthe correspondingneedles to push these needles inwardly. Only those.needles are pushed inwardly 'which corre' in a counterthe rods whichbring the lmoved needles under the control of cam 8, which contacts withthe needle butts and ushes the needles farther in a distance suliiclentfor them to catchthe yarn which is passing. As shown in Figure 1, thereis a cam 8 opposite the red yarn 1 carrier and a similar cam 8 oppositethe feeding point for the blue yarn 3, but no such cam is associatedwith the white yarn 2. Hence, with the cams arranged as 1n Figures 1 and5, `the dial needles will knit only red and blue loops. The passing ofcam 8 will therefore cause the chosen dial needles to catch the red yarn1, after which cam 4 will cause the needles to be pushed outwardlyagain. Before cam 4, however, acts to retract the needles, cam, 11serves to lower all of the control members below the level of the.needles so when the needles are 'retracted by cam 4 the ends of theneedles and members 45 will overlap,

without contacting, the end of the needle lying above its controlmember. Cam 7 then contacts with .the needle butts to advance theneedles slightly to relieve the tension on the loops held by theneedles. Those control members 45 which passed through apertures in thepattern 51 are now removed and pushed inwardly by cam 10. The cycle of'operations has now been completed and the fingers 61 to 63 located abovecam 10 will cause the drum to be rotated one step to bring the next rowof perforations in paper 51 into play. Cams 12', 13', 5', 8', 4', 11'and 10' will now come successively into action to cause loops of theblue yarn 3 to be knitted, after which cams`12, 13, 5, 8, 4, 11 and 10repeat the above process.

The manner in.which a pattern may be' knitted by the machine of Figurelmay now be explained, assuming the pattern is like that illustratedschematically in Figure 8, wherein the pattern part of the cloth islocated between lines 121 and 122, the parts of the cloth not -lyingbetween these lines being made according to a special stitch to behereinafter described. The .distance between two adjacent horizontallines in Figure 8 may be taken as representing va row of loops. Asillustrated in Figure 4, the cylinder needles, when cams 80,l 83 and 85are in their dotted line positions, knit loops of all three yarns andthe loops formed by the cylinder needles are in the back of the fabricwhile the knitting by the dial needles lies in the front of the fabric,the dial needles knitting only red and blue loops. It` is understood, ofcourse, that the cams 80, 83

and 85 are in their dotted-line positions of Figure 4 for the patternportion of the fabric between lines 121 and 122 of Figure 8,`while thesethree cams are in their full line positions of Figure 4 for the portionof 'the fabric of Figure 8 outside o f lines 121 and 122.

111 Figure 8 the white portlon between lines 121 and 122 will representred loops of yarnv 1 in the front of the fabric, while the inkedportions will represent blue portions of yarn 3. The first row of loopsbelow the point 121 is all red yarn 1.- Hence, the portion 124 of thepattern paper 51 (which may be assumed to `be the portion determiningthe character -of'thev loops in the rst row below point 121 by propercooperation with the dial push rods 45) will have no apertures sinceevery dial needle should form a loop, providing the yarn carrier whichwill pass for that pattern setting is the red yarn carrier. That is, itis assumed that the portion 124 of the pattern 51 of Figure 9 isopposite tle dial needle push rods 45 at the time of the passing of thered yarn carrierby one pattern 51 of Figure 1. The second row ofloops123 of Figure 8 is also all red so the pattern 51 in ro'w 125 has anaperture for every needle push rod controlled thereby to prevent theforma-tion of any blue loops l as the blue yarn carrier passes. Then thepattern 51 in row 126 has no apertures so that when the red yarnvcarrier comes around, all red loops will be formed in the front of thefabric to correspond to row 123 of the fabric, while row 127 of thepaper pattern will have an aperture for each needle push rod so that noblue loops will be formed by the dial needles at this time. The next row150 of the cloth has two separated blue loops and the rest are red.Hence, the portion 128 of the paper pattern which is effective when thered yarn carrier is passing` has apertures where no red loops aredesired and no apertures where red loops are desired. The next portion129 of the paper pattern, however, which is effective when the blue yarncarrier is passing has apertures except at the places where'blue loopsare desired. Hence, row 150, due to portions 128 and 129 of the paperpattern, will comprise all red loops except at two separated placeswhere blue loops will be located. Row 151 of the cloth has two loopsof'blue at the left and three loops of blue in the center. Hence, thepart 130 of the pattern paper for the red yarn carrier will haveapertures only where the blue loops are desired, while the part of thepattern just below.l namely, row 131, will contain apertures only wherethe red loops are desired.

It therefore will be apparent on examination of the pattern` such as thepart between 124 and 133 of Figure 9, that the parts 124, 126. 128. 130,132 and 134, designed to work with the red yarn carriers, have apertureswhere red loops are not desired and have no apertures where red loopsare desired, while for the parts 125, 127, 129, 131, 133, etc. for theblue yarn `carrier, apertures indicate no blue loops, while noapertures' indicate blue loops. Hence, the pattern 51 enables each dialneedle 'to be knitting red and blue loops 1n the fronti/if A'the fabric,according to the design on the red will not catch the blue slightly dialneedles.

to be. projected inwardly.

. pattern paper, the cylinder needles are knitting in turn loops of'allthree yarns, which lic at the back of the fabric.

Figure 11 illustrates more in perspectivev the fabric knitted by themachine in developing the pattern. The blue yarn 3 is shown heavilyshaded, the red yarn 1 is only shaded, while the white yarn 2 isunshaded. The front Of the fabric faces the observer and the largeloops'of red and blue yarn in the front of the fabric will be easilynoticed. These are the loops knit-ted by the The loops formed by l.. thecylinder needles lie at the back of the fabric and lbetween adjacentwales of the loops knitted by the dial needles. The pattern thus standsout very prominently.

As wasA previously explained,`the parts of. the schematic showingoutside of lines 121, 122 of Figure 8 represent the new stitch which isillustrated in perspective in Figvure 10. The manner in which the stitchiis made is shown in Figures 7a, 7" and 7. The novelty in the stitchresides mainly in the special manner in which the cylinder needles areoperated. The pattern paper for the dial needles may, for example, be ofthe type shown above row 124 in Figure 9. The first row 160 of Figure 9,whichis effective when the" red yarn 'carrier is passing, indicales thatalternate dial needles will form red loops, the remaining dial needlesnot be` ing projected inwardly to catch the red yarn, while when theblue yarn carrier comes around row 161 of the pattern indicates that thesaid remaining needles will form blue loops, while the dial needles thatcaught the yarn. Thus, it will be understood that' considering the leftof Figure 7a alternate loops that are just visible will be red and theremaining blue. Starting with the left of Figure 7a, it will beremembered that the dial needles knit only red and blue loops, while thecylinder needles knit loops of only the white yarn because cams 80 and85 are in their full line positions of Figure 4. Cam 79 is justbeginning to raise the cylinder needles while cam 8 is causing thepreselected dial needles (alternate as shown in row 160 of Fig. 9)v Theprojection catching the red yarn on the yarn carrier now opens thelatches for the paternin Figure 9, it will be seen that the needles nowforming the red loops have just previously formed blue loops so that thered'yarn in Figure 7a is being pulled through loops of bluel yarn, theother dial needles bearing red loops being retracted and' not at thistime. Since only alternate dial needles catch the red yarn, there willbe two cylinder needles separating two dial needles which have caughtthe yarn. Due to the fact that the cylinder needles are up at this timeand the red yarn passing from one dial needle yto the next dial needlewhere it is caught must pass around two" cylinder needles, instead ofpassing directly from one dial needle to the next dial needle where itis caught, it follows that `the loop of red yarn l so formed will belarger than if the cylinder needles were down. Cam 4 now pulls back thedial needles bearing the red yarn, as shown in position 165, through'theblue loop previously formed in the last knitted row. See Figure pulledthrough the blue now pushes outwardly to those dial needles just asshown to the right of needle 165 in Figure 7 a.

The white yarn carrier isthe next to pass and white loops are formed bythe cylinder needles but not by t e dial needles. 'cylinder needlesalready being up, the white yarn is caught by them, as shown to the lettof Figure 7", and cam 82 causes them subsequently lowered. The red yarn1s on' the outside of the\ cylinder needles, being pulled in byalternate dial needles. inder needles` due to cam 82, now pull the whiteyarn down on the inside of the red yarn, andthe red yarn then slips overand loop 167. Cam 7 a slight extent back of the cylinder needles as tneedles are brought up again due cam 83. Position 168 in Figure 7"cylinder needles lowered due to cam 82, the needles having been loweredon the inside of the red yarn, while position 169 shows the needlesraised on the outside of the red yarn due to action of the white yarnaround the red yarn effectively locks these'two yarns together and aldsin the prevention of drop stitches and the like.

The raising lof the needles by special cam 83 causes the white yarn tocome in contact with special shoulders on the cylinder needles tospecial 10 where the red loop 166 is The cyl-- he cylinder cam 83. Thistwisting of retracted by cam 4,

to be shows the 4yarn below the dial needle,

which raise the white yarn, separating it from the red yarn, as shown inposition 169, Figure 7,1. This separation of the white and `red yarnsallows the alternate dial needles iprojected outwardly by cam 8 to enterbetion- 169. These alternate jected outwardly by' cam f to catch'theblue yarn, as shown to the left of Figure 7.. This, as shown later inFigure 7"', pullsthe blue yarn between the red and white yarns. SeeFigure 10, where blue le l a l il' ll'l(..

loop 167 is shown pulled between white loop 170 and red loop 4171.

Beginning with position 172, cam 8 comes into play to project alternatedial needles ,i in between the white andV red yarns. At the 180 and 181.If,- for example,

the break would notv same .time thecylinder needles are being lowered bycam 84, las shown at the extreme right of Figure 7b. This transfers thewhite yarn from the cylinder needles to the dial needles. At the left ofFigure 7b the white loops are formed by the 'cylinder needles,

' while at the right Iof Figure 7b the cylinder needles haverelinquished their hold on the white yarn and the white yarn is nowbeing carried on the shanks of the dial needles. This transferiof thelwhite yarn from the cylinder needles to the dial needles is an importantstep .in the production of this ynovel stitch.

The blue yarn carrier now passes and the projected dial needles catchthe blue yarn, ass'hown at the point 173, Figure 7, after which theseneedles are pulled back by cam 4', bringing the blue loop between thered and white yarns, as shown in Figure 10. At the right of Figure 7,the fabric just knitted has been pulled over the cylinder edge and the'cycle of operations just described will then be repeated.

As will be observed by reference to Figure 10, the operation on thewhite. yarn, as shown vin Figure 7b, serves to twist the red yarn aroundthe white yarn, therebyl providing a substantial interlocking of theyarns which will aidV greatly in preventing the fabric from unravelingdue to an accidental tear. See, for example, in Figure 10 where the redyarnat each end of the red loop 182 is wrapped around the white yarn atthe points the red yarn loop 182 should break, run through the fabricbecause the broken ends would be held by their being' wrapped around thewhite yarn at points 180 and 181. This, therefore, aids in theprevention of drop stitches.

Another special feature ofthe new stitch shown in Figure 10 is thatit'is an excellent imitation of hand knitting and is therefore ofpleasing appearance.

Special attention should be called to the Athe cylinder needles.

reason why the red yarn loops, as loop 182 of Figure 10, are/much largerthan the blue loops, such as loop 167. This is because when the redloops are being formed the cylinder needles are up and eachI red loopmust pas; on the outside of. two'cylinder needles, as lshown in Figure7"L at the right. However, when the blue loops are (being formed, asshown in Figure 7, the cylinder needles are down and the blue yarnpasses straight from one dial needle to the third dial needle. This,therefore, makes each `blue loop smaller than a red loop.- Thisl alsoadds to the pleasing appearance of the Another important feature of thisnew stitch is that it enables a. selvage to be formed which will' notcause an unraveling of the fabric. '.Ihc cloth inade by this new stitchcan be cut at a desired point andthe cut edge will require no specialattention to be v used as the end of a garment, that is, no

special hein or stitching will be needed to' give it a finishedappearance free from danger of unraveling. For example, suppose that inFig. 10 we pull the blue yarn 190 out of the fabric, and then out thered loops at the points 191 across the fabric. This will leave smallfragments of the red yarn which can readily be pulled out from each sideof the separated fabric leaving a clean separationof the fabric alongthe line 192 such that no unraveling or drop stitches will be produced.The same result may be `obtained somewhat more quickly by first pullingout the blue yarn 190, cutting the red yarn forming the loops crossingline 192 at two remote points in the fabric, and then pulling out thecut red yarn to obtain the separation along the desired width of thefabric. the fragments of the cut red yarn one portion at a time. It istherefore quite con-` venient to have several rows of this new stitch ateach end `of the fabric or at definite intervals in the cloth becausethe cloth can be separated inthe new stitch portion without anyunraveling or drop stitches being formed. Hence, in Fig. 8 the border ofthe goods is made with the new stitch, while the main central portion isof the pattern type.

It will be noted that the machine of Fig. 1 is arranged to knit thepattern portion of the fabric by the dial needles instead of by This ispreferable because a closer spacing of the needles can be made resultingin a finer, more closely woven fabric. This is due to the fact that thedial needles spread apart going from their knitting points to theirouter ends, thus nroviding sufficient spacing at their outer ends forthe independent control of each needle .loo

This saves the labor of'pulling out Figure 1, having dles, on thecontrary, are parallel to each otler a'nd have the same spacing at eachen It will be understood that the grooves in which the dial needles andcontrol members work are of suitable depth and dimensions to enablethese members to be accurately controlled and regulated in the cycle ofoperations in which they function. The proper proportioning anddimensioning of the various parts of the machine of Figure 1 may readilybe determined by a skilled mechanic and it is not believed that amoredetailed description of the construction of the machine need be givenherein.

Figure 6e shows an alternative type of control rod for the 'dial needleswhich may be employed in place of the type 45 shown in Figure 6a.Whenever the portion A185l strikes a cam which pushes it outwardly, thecontrol arm 183 through the coiled spring 184 will be pushed outwardlyto come in contact with the lpattern paper and will pass through'thepattern paper if an aperture is resent. If no aperture is present,spring 184 will be elongated and after the` cam which is pressing member185 outwardly has passed, the member 185 will take `an advanced inwardposition ready to function as in Figures 6, 6b, 6c and 6d. i

Figures 12, 13 and 14 represent a machine of the same general type asdisclosed in bot-h dial and cylinder needles and capable of forming boththe pattern stitch as well as the new stitch above described, but themachine differs from the machine of Fig re 1 in that only one patterndrum is required for controlling the dial needles around the entireclrcumference of the machine. Spider 200 is similar to spider 40 ofFigure 1. The operation can probably be best explained by reference toFigures 14a-14C. The apertured drum 201 is provided with al patternpaper 202 which passes over the drum as in Figure 6a. The controlmechanism for each dial needle comprises a member 203 having three arms204, 205 and 206 rotatably pivoted on -a stationary shaft 208. Attachedto the end of arm 205 is a long flexible wire 209, such as a steel pianowire, passing through a tubing 210, which is made ot braided wire or aplain metal tube for providing a channel for wire 209. The tube 210 andwire 209 should be designed to reduce lost motion to a minimum betweenthe ends ofwire 209. The other end of the wire 209 isy fastened member211, which actuates the needles, as will be ydescribed later. The spring213, compressed .between a shoulder on the stationary annular plate 212and shoulder 214, serves-to exert a normal pull on the wire 209, whichtends, when the spring is compressed, to move arm 205 .in acounter-clockwise direc tion. This tends to( keep the end of arm* 204 tothe end of control cylinder from one end to the other in order Y thatthe arms 205 for the various dial needles will ride in the depressionsuccessively one at a time. This cylinder 216 is rotatedcounter-clockwise due to cog *217 contacting with the worm drive 218mounted on a vertical shaft, at the other end of which'is cog 219meshing with teeth around the outer edge of the lower rotatable annularplate 220i. The drum 201 is driven by a cog wheel 221 meshing with a cowheel 222 mounted on the same shaft as cy inder 216.

As the cylinder 216 rotates counter-clockwise, the end of arm 204 rideson the cam surface. the part of greater diameter, which `puts the arms204, 205 and 206 in their maximum clockwise position. As soon ascylinder 216 has rotated suiliciently to allow arm 204 to rest on theypart of smaller diameter, arm 205A pushes on wire 209 and arm 206 movestowards the pattern paper. If there is no aperture in the paper oppositepin 225, only a slight motion of wire 209 and control arm 211 1sproduced. If there is an aperture, a relatively larger motion of controlmember 211 is produced.l In Figure 14, a dial needle 227 is shownresting in a groove in the stationary annular plate 212. If now thecylinder 216 is rotated so that arm 204- rides a depression and pin 225of arm206 entersan aperture in the paper pattern and drum, controlmember 211 will be pushed forward, as shown in Figure 14h, and a cam 229coming around in a counter-clockwise direction will raise' controlmembers 211, as shown in Figure 14h. This raising brings control member211 against in 230, which will in turn raise the butt en of the needle,This will raise the needle av suflicient distance that cam 231 comingaround will contact with'the needle jbutt and push the needle inwardlyso as to catch vthe yarn and perform its knitting functions. After thepassageof cams 229 and 231, cam 232 (Figure 14) will cause the needle tobe retracted and thereafter member 211 will fall back into place,allowing pin 230 to drop and cam 228 coming around to repeat the cyclewill push the butt end of the needle into its groove, as shown in Figure14,

Power for drivin the machine of Figure 12 may be obtained 1n the samemanner as in Figure 1, and is shown at the position marked 240.

The tubing 210 for all the dial needles pass through apertures in asupporting plate 241 and then are vsuitably curved around the machine,,nally passing through an aperture in a stationary ring'242, which sur-In Figure 14a it is shown riding on' leo rounds the machine, the tubingending in ring 242 while the Wire passes on to the needle controlmembers 211. See Figs. 12 and 14n. A

It is to be understood, of course, if the arm 204 passes over the largerdiameter to the smaller diameter of the drum 216 and pin 225 encountersno aperture in paper 202, then the movement of control member 211resulting therefrom is insuiicient to cause the end of member 211 to beraised by cam 229 so that the pin 230 and the butt end of the needle arenot raised, and consequently the needle will not be pushed forward tocatch the yarn. It will therefore be apparent that when one of the arms206 is turned counter-clockwise to enter an aperture l in paper 202, theneedle associated therewithl vill enter into the knitting, but

if no aperture is present, the associatedl needle will not enter intothe knittinnr at that particular time. It therefore follows that thedial needles so controlled may be made to form the knitting illustratedin both Figures 10 and 11 in combination with the cylinder needles ofFigure 12, the change from one type of knitting to anotherI type beingmade by a cylinder cam operation,

'asdescribed in connection with Figures 2 and 4. The machine of Figure12 therefore will perform the same functions as the machine of Figure 1but is somewhat more simple to operate in that the machine of Figure 1requires seven paper patterns, while the machine of Figure 12 requiresonly one paper drum. Otherwise the two machines are similar inoperation.

One other minor difference may be pointed out. The drum 201 and the camsurface 216 are continuously rotated, while the drum for the paperpattern for the machine of Figure 1 is intermittently operated.l Thecontinuons operation of the drum 201 is possible because the slots inthe paper and the drum are made considerably longer than the diameter ofthe entering pins 225 and these apertures in the drum are placed on aslightly diagonal line s o that the druln can still move while one ormore pins 225 remain inserted in the apertures. The size of theapertures to be made in the drum andpaper to enable this continuousrotation of drum 201 may be readily detemin'ed after due considerationof all the factors involved.

It is to be understood that the various parts of the machines of Figures1 and 12 may be appropriately supported according to arrangements. wellknown in the art. Such features form no part of the resent invention andhave not been describe in detail.

It is furthermore to be understood that this invention may possess manyforms differing widely from those above described Without departing inany wise from the spirit of this invention as defined in the appendedclaims. l

The invention claimed is:

1. A knitting -machine of the circular type comprising dial needleshorizontally arranged, a group of rotatable cams rotating in ahorizontal plane for controlling. the movements of said needles, acontrol member for each needle, a second group of cams rotating in ahorizontal plane for causing needle to such a position as to engage inthe knitting operation, a perforated sheet, means cooperating with saidsheet for moving said member to va forward position, rotatable cam meanscontacting w1th said member for causing the, further movement of saidmember to cause-a corresponding movement of the associated needle, andadditional rotatable cam means contacting with said needle in itsadvanced position for causing said needle to enter into the knitting.

3. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising dial needles andautomatic means for securing an independent control of each of saidneedles, said means comprisin a control member for each needle, rotatale cam means for pushing forward pre-selected needles, a secondrotatable cam means acting on said control means for bringingpreselected needles under the control of said first cam means, aperforated4 drum rotatable about a fixed axis, a movable sheetaroundsaid drum and having perforations arranged to determine the,

pattern of the fabric tov be knitted, and' means controlled b said sheetfor causing a predetermined raction of said control members to comeunder the control of said second cam means.

4. A knitting machine of the circular typeV comprising both dial needlesand cylinder needles, a pluralit of yarns of different types to beknitte by said machine. cams operating to cause said cylinder needles toknit loops of only one type of yarn and said dial needles to knit loopsof two other types of yarn to form a fabric of one kind of stitch, andcam means for causing said cylinder needles to form loops of the threementioned types of yarn, while causing said dial needles to form loopsof only two types of yarn to form a stitch of a different type.

5. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising both dial needlesand cylinder no Y lli

needles, a plurality of yarns of different types to be knitted by saidmachine, cams operating to cause said cylinder needles to knit loops ofonly one type of yarn and said dial needles to knit loops of two othertypes of yarn to form a fabric of one kind of stitch, cam meansoperating to cause said cylinder needles to form loops of the threementioned types of yarn while causing said dial needles to form loops ofonly two types of yarn to form a stitch of a different type, andautomatic means for changing at redetermined times from one type ofstitc to the other.

6. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising both cylinder anddial needles for knitting loops of different colors of yarn, shoulderson said cylinder needles near their latches, and means for causing saidshoulders to lift temporarily one yarn from a second parallel yarn,means for causing certain of said dial needles at that moment to bemoved forward between said yarns to catch a third yarn, means forpulling said dial 'needles back after the third yarn is caught, andmeans for lowering said cylinder needles.

7. A knitting machine of the circular type colnlplixising both cylinderand dial needles fo itting loops of different types of yarn, means forcausing said dial needles to form loops of two yarns, means for causingthe loop of one yarn formed by said dial needles to be larger than theloops formed`from the second of the two yarns, means for causing saidcylinder needles to form loops of a third yarn, while interlocking saidthird yarn with said one yarn on each side of every loop of said oneyarn, whereby at a particular point in the fabric said second yarn maybe pulled from the fabric and said large loops of the first yarnselvage.

8. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising both cylinder anddial needles f or knitting loops of different types of yarn, means forcausing said dial needles to form loops of two yarns of diierent types,means for causing said cylinder needles to be up when said dial needlesare forming loops of one yarn, means for causing said cylinder needlesto be down when said dial needles are forming loops of the second yarn,whereby the loops of said first yarn are longer than'the loops of thesecond yarn, and means for causing said cylinder needles to form loopsof a third yarn while interlocking the third yarn at each side of eachloop of the first yarn.

9. A knitting machine for knitting a fabric of a plurality of yarns.comprising cylinder needles and dial needles, means for causing certaindial needles .to catch one yarn while intermediate cylmder needles areup so that said one yarn lies around certain of the cylinder needles,means for causing said certain cylinder needles to catch a may be cut toform a second yarn and be lowered after which they are immediatelyraised on the outside of said first yarn with their latches open, `andmeans for subsequently causing certain dial needles to catch said secondyarn and to lower said cylinder needles whereby the stitch istransferredv from the cylinder needles to the dial needles.

10. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising dial needles,rotating cams for operating said needles, push rods for moving saidneedles in suchpositions as to be controlled by said cams, a perforatedrotatable drum having a row of perforations around its periphery for aplurality of sai dial needles, a perforated pattern sheet on the outsideof said drum, fingers adapted to pass into the perforations in said drumat places where perforations occur both in the paper and the drum, and aflexible wire passing from each of said fingers to one of said push rodsfor controlling the movement of said push rods. A

1l. A knitting machine for knitting a fabric of a plurality of yarns,comprising cylinder needles and dial needles, means for causing certaindial needles to catch one yarn while the intermediate cylinder needlesare up whereby the said intermediate cylinder needles are on the insideof said one yarnat that instant, means for causing certain of saidcylinder needles to catch a second yarn and for immediately loweringsaid cylinder needles whereby the second yarn is pulled down onv theinside of said first yarn, means for causing said cylinder needles to beimmediately raised whereby said second yarn is pulled up on the outsideof said rst yarn, and means for subsequently transferringr said secondyarn from the cylinder needles to the dial needles.

12. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising dial needles,yarn carriers for feeding to said machine yarns of different types,rotatable cams for controlling the operations of said needles, a pushrod individual to each needle for bringing each needle under the controlof said cams, a perforated drum rotatable aboutl a fixed axis and havinga row of perforations around its periphery foreach of a plurality ofsaid needles, a perforated pattern sheet passing around said drum, andmeans for penetrating said drum at places where perforations in saiddrum and said sheet coincide for controlling the movements of said pushrods.

13. A knitting machine of the circular type comprising. a circular rowof dial needles, rotating cams for operating said needles to produceknitting by said needles, a push rod for each of said needles for movingits associated needle into such position as to be controlled by saidcams, said rods being radially and symmetrically spaced aroundsubstantially-the entire cirdao4 cumference of said machine, aperforated rotatable drum having a row of perforations around itsperiphery for each dial needle, a perforated pattern sheet on theoutside of vsaid drum, lingers adapted to pass into the perforations insaid drum at places where perforations occur both in the paper and thedrum, and a flexible wire passing from each of said lingers to one ofsaid push rods for controlling the movement of said push rods.

14. A knitting machine ofl the circular type comprising a circularv rowof needles, cam means for operating said needles, an actuating lnemberfor each of a plurality of said needles for independently moving eachneedle into such position as to be controlled by said cams, a perforatedpattern, fingers adapted to pass into perforations in said pattern, aflexible wire connected between each of said lingers and one of saidactuating members, a tubing surrounding each Wire in which the wire mayfreely slide to faithfully impart the motion of each finger to theassociated actuating member with negligible lost motion, and means forperiodically causing said lingers to contact with or pass through saidpattern depending upon the absence or presence of a perforation.

15. A knitting machine comprising a circular row of needles, cam meansfor actuating said needles to produce the desired knitting operations, aperforated pattern having perforations corresponding to each of aplurality of said needles, means for continuously moving said patternvat a substantially constant speed during the knitting operations, andmeans cooperating with said pattern While moving at its said constantspeed for causing the perforations in said pattern to control theknitting operations of a plurality of said needles.

16. A knitting machine according to claim 15 in which said cooperatingmeans comprises a. control member for each of a lurality of saidneedles, a plunger indivi ual to each of a plurality of said needlesadapted to pass through perforations in said pattern, and a flexiblewire connecting each plunger with one of said control members.

17. A knitting machine according to claim 15 in which said cooperatingmeans comprises a plunger individual to each of a plurality of needlesand adapted to pass through perforations in said pattern, saidperforations being elongated to allow for the movement of said patternwhile a plunger is in one of said perforations.

18. A knitting machine comprising a circular row of needles, and meansfor controlling the knitting operations of a plurality of said needles,said means comprising an actuating member for eac-h needle, a perforateddrum adapted to support a perforated pattern, a plurality of plungersadapted to pass through perforations in said patternA and drum, couplingmeans between each of sald plungers and one of sald members, cam meansfor periodically actuating said plungers to cause them to contact withsaid pattern or pass through perforations in said pattern and drum, andmeans for rotating said drum and said cam means at a substantiallyconstant speed.

19. A knitting Vmachine comprising a circular row of dial needles Withtheir latched ends pointed inwardly, an actuating member individual toeach of a plurality of said needles, a perforated pattern havingperfor-ations for determining individually the knitting operations of aplurality of said. needles, a plurality of plungers adapted to passthrough perforations in said pattern, a flexible Wire connected betweeneach of said plungers and one of said members whereby the motion of eachplunger may be imparted to its associated member, a housing individualto each wire for reducing lost motion between each plunger and itsassociated members, and means for causing said plungers to pass throughperforations in said pattern.

20. A knitting machine comprising a circular row of needles, anindividual control member for each of a plurality of said needles, aflexible wire of substantial length connected at one end to one of saidcontrol members, asimilar wire for each of the remaining controlmembers, said Wires being curved so that near their opposite ends theyare parallel to each other in a common plane, pattern mechanism forcontrolling said Wires at their last mentioned ends, and a closelyfitting housing for each of said wires whereby a longitudinal movementof said wires is imparted to said members.

:21. A knitting machine in accordance with claim 20 in which one of saidmembers and one of said wires are provided for substantially everyneedle of said row, a closely litting housing for each wire, and aplunger at one end of each wire adapted to penetrate perforations insaid pattern.

22, A knitting machine of the circular type comprising dial needles,rotatable cams for controlling said needles, a control member contactingwith each needle for determining when its associated needle will becontrolled by said cams, a perforated pattern movable about a fixedaxis, and spring actuated plungers adapted to pass through saidperforations for controlling said members, one of said plungers beingattached to each of said control members.

23. A knitting machine of the dial type comprising a circular row ofneedles, a dial in which said needles are radially disposed with theirhooked ends project-ing inwardly, a push rod individualV to each needleand supportedby said dial, said rods also being radially dispcsed andarranged in a circle outside the circle of said needles and adapted attimes to contact with said needles, yarn carriers adapted to supply yarnto the inner ends of said needles, rotatable cams for advancing andretiring said needles, rotatable cams for causing said rods to determinethe control of said needles by said first cams, the outer ends of saidrods due to the radial disposition of said needles and rods beingseparated from each other greater distances than the inner hooked endsVof said needles, and means comprising a perforated pattern drum forproviding for the individual control of a. plurality of said rods foreach passage of said yarn carriers, Said drum being mounted on afixedaxis.

24. A knitting machine according to claim 23 in which said meanscomprises plungers adapted to pass through perforations in said drum,and flexible Wires connect each plunger to a push rod.

25. A knitting machine comprisinga dial, needles radially disposed ingrooves in said dial, the hooked ends of said needles being the innerends, a group of rotatable cams rotating in a horizontal plane forcontrolling the movements of said needles, a control member forv eachneedle, a second group of cams rotating in a horizontal plane forcausing said control members to move said needles, a perforated pattern,means for movin said pattern as the knitting progresses, an plungerscontrolled by the presence or absence of perforations in said patternfor moving said members into the path of said second group of cams.

26. A knitting machine comprising a dial, needles radially disposed ingrooves in said dial, the hooked ends/of said needles being the innerends, a group of rotatable cams rotating in a horizontal plane forcontrolling lmember for each needle,

the movements of said needles, a control member for each needle adaptedto raise the butt ends of said needles into .the path of said group ofcams, a second group of cams rotating in a horizontal plane, meansresponsive to said second group of cams for causing said control membersto move said needles, a perforated pattern, means for moving saidpattern as the knitting progresses, and plungers controlled by thepresence or absence of perforations in sai pattern for moving saidresponsive means into the path of said second group oi cams. 27. Aknitting machine comprising a dial, needles radially disposed in groovesin said dial, the hooked ends of said needles being the inner ends, agroup of rotatable cams rotating in ahorizontal plane for controllingthe movements of said needles, a control a second group of cams rotatingin a horizontal plane for causing said control members to move saidneedles, a long thin strip of flexible material having a patternthereonhaving a characteristic varying in a -manner in which it is desired tovary the knitting of a plurality o said needles, and means controlled bythe varying characteristic of said pattern for moving said members intothe path of said second group of cams.

28. A knitting machine in accordance with claim 27 in which said atternmaterial is mounted on a rotatable rum, rotating on a fixed axis, and inwhich said means comprises a plurality of' fingers contacting at timeswith said pattern material, each of said fingers being 'connected to oneof said control members.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name, this 1st dy of July,A. D., 1924.

VIN ENT LOMBARDI.

